Q: What are the advantages and disadvantages of

marketing planning? Is it essential for companies?
Discuss
What is a Marketing Plan?
A marketing plan is the central instrument for directing and coordinating the marketing effort. It
operates at a strategic and tactical level.

The main benefits and problems of marketing planning can be summarized as follows:
Benefits:
- Provides clear sense of direction for marketing management
- Marketing options are evaluated and prioritized
- Allocates scarce resources more effectively
- Encourages coordination with other functional areas (finance, ops & HR)
- Provides a basis for assessing actual results
- Makes marketing dept. responsible
Drawbacks
- Can be time-consuming
- Constant change in the market makes assumptions difficult
- Danger of either being too simplistic or too complicated
- The plan can be ignored as circumstances take over

gives direction and guidance. so Vodafone 360 users can stay update from their Friends and latest news. This is ultimately serving
the Vodafone’s customers to best services in the market. Marketing planning is critical for a company as
it evaluates the company. Vodafone has partners in more than 40 Countries and has the equity interests over 30
countries. Vodafone came up with a new Service in the
year 2010 named as “Vodafone 360” which is an excellent service for the customers who are wanting to
be connected everywhere and this particular service is perfect for customers who want to access the
latest information available on the internet by keeping their contacts in that. it can help to improve the quality of decision by reducing
rushed decision and associated risks. Africa. such as Face
book. Vodafone has its services
around the world and It is listed in the world’s top 500 Brands and ranked 183 in the year 2006 and is
published in “Barron” and also ranked 86th place in the world’s 100 largest companies and the ranking
of Vodafone came down to number 10 in the year 2010 for the top 100 brands listed and that is
published by Millward Brown.
Q: Develop a SWOT analysis for the UK mobile phone market?
 STRENGTH
Vodafone has Created a very good Brand Image in the Customers Perception.000 base stations
for the wireless signal Transmission and the network traffic is around 700 billion minutes and over 90
pet bytes of data per year.8 Mbps.
Vodafone was the First operator to Provide DRM.
Best in Class Technology:Vodafone is equipped with the most advance Infrastructural Network round the globe which helps
Vodafone deliver the most unsurpassed quality of communication. And Italy is the second best revenue
. Asia pacific and the United States and Vodafone also has a
diversified revenue base for instance in FY2010. Middle East. There are over 200. Africa. Vodafone has its largest geographical market and
Germany Contributed 18% of the Total Geographic Revenue. According to Brand Finance’s A Global Brand Survey done in the year
2010 Vodafone is ranked the 7th Most Valuable Brand. Msn and Skype. The Middle East.
Vodafone 360 is connected to the latest updates from the popular social networking sites. Asia
Pacific and the United States through the company’s subsidiary undertaking’s and the investments as of
FY2010. and enables to set objectives and to identify
alternatives and strategies. Furthermore. and the peak download speed is around 28. and Vodafone is the one best World’s Leading International Mobile Telecommunications
company.Free Bundles and has the largest Digital music
Subscriptions In Europe where are over 500.000 Customers.
 Global presence and diversification revenue
Vodafone has expanded its business in different parts of the world like Europe. Vodafone has a very good prominent market share in most countries around the world
including Europe.Marketing planning is very essential for companies.

It is has a truly international customer base of 347
million registered customers as of 30th June 2009.000 employees have given it a market capitalization of £80. and
other Asia pacific and middle east operations accounted for 12. This belief. To a certain
degree. Whereas. The group’s other Africa and Central Europe. It is estimated that by 2010 Vodafone’s Indian customer base has the
capability to grow up to 111million by the end of 2010 from the present 32 million subscribers.5 percentage respectively. Romania
Germany Spain and UK at 33.2% of share and
Vodacom with 10% followed by India 7% in FY2010. the cell phone radiation concern reduces the quantity of demand since a segment of the market
will have minimum usage. A sizeable portion of it comes from India where it has
the largest and growing clientele.: 13. The local health authorities and the World Health Organization agree there is
no evidence on the same. operators
like Vodafone and Verizon wireless have filed lawsuits against groups alleging various health
consequences as a result of mobile usage.
remains a debatable issue.
Vodafone subscribers and 85. Health risks have not been substantiated however. Some
research studies suggest that excessive cell phone usage could lead to cancer.7% and United Kingdom with 11.5%. 32. or reduce mobile usage or result in future litigation. The damage though has already been done. This
in turn led Vodafone to be the largest mobile telecommunications operators.2 and 23.1.4 percentages. Government authorities in some countries have already taken precautionary measure by
limiting cell phone usage in school and colleges. since pupils are more sensitive to RF fields. 31.
 Weakness
 Mobile phone radiation
It is said that the exposure of RF fields from the cell phone towers has dangerous health hazards. however. the market share in the
eastern European country of Turkey is at 24.2 billion as of
August 2010 and global mobile market share of 7%. 8 and 7.
 Legal Proceedings
Concerned over allegations of cell phone radiation that will dent telecom industries revenues. Vodafone has a sizeable market share in the European region with Italy. 33. there is no
guarantee that the actual or perceived risks of RF exposure will not impair Vodafone’s ability to retain or
attract new subscribers.
 Prominent market position
At the end of 2009.e.
 Opportunities
 Increasing customers and emerging markets
.5% and Spain with 12. The litigation may further
affect Vodafone’s operations adversely than that of other telecom operators since Vodafone’s strategic
focus is on mobile telecommunications. It is a problem faced by all telecom
operators.5.generator for Vodafone i.

economic and legal
systems are less predictable.
4G Introduction
4G is all about improved high speed data transmission. A year later. In 2008 Vodafone ran several hundred campaigns for global brands.
 Growth of mobile advertising
The increasing trend of mobile phone users. There is also the likelihood of not having achieved
any returns in these markets. This potential market will be a major growth area for
telecom players. Developing countries are expected
to deliver faster GDP with little alternative fixed line infrastructure. has led the industry to believe that the global mobile
advertising market is expected to grow at a compounded annual growth rate of about 40% until 2014. regulatory.7 billion
subscribers. This environment makes Vodafone’s investments vulnerable and any legal
developments are beyond the control of the group.3%. mobile
advertising was devoted to 18 operating markets.
 Mobile Transfer Service
Mobile money transfer service is a value added service that provided through existing infrastructure
with the help of other financial enterprises.
This has been primarily because of the new handsets that are compatible and improved internet
connectivity. In the coming years mobile money transfer system will become Vodafone’s important source of
income. In emerging markets
mobile penetration is around 50% as compared to European market.
 Increasing Competition
.7%. Emerging markets like India.There has been a 20% growth in the telecom industry in the last three years with a 4.8%. Other Asia pacific regions and
middle east service revenue increased by 9. It is a growing business with enormous opportunities
especially when mobile customers are growing exponentially with an expected penetration of 5. The superior ultra-broad band will improved
internet connectivity and therefore better live streaming experience. China. Vodafone India’s revenue increased by 14. political. In emerging markets however. Turkey and South Africa have been improving
performance with increasing revenue which contributes to the market share. Turkey in the fourth year had
revenue growing 31.4 billion
by 2015. Vodafone again will be using its
own infrastructure to launch 4G.
 Threats
 Legal Risks
Vodafone’s group’s revenue comes from emerging or developing countries since they have majority of
its customers in such markets.

The poor performance
from any vendor could result in additional expenditure or reduced profitability.The exponential growth of new customers has been due to increased competition. Competition has also led increase in subsidies for handsets.
 Delayed Technology
One of the hallmarks of Vodafone’s success has been the innovative technologies which are provided by
vendors.
 Adverse Macroeconomic conditions
Poor economic conditions may lead to reduced spending by customers. Adverse macroeconomic conditions will only
affect Vodafone’s sales income. do not guarantee that the common standards of
specification will be achieved. The fierce
competition has also led to declines in tariffs for mobile services and is expected to decrease further
thereby causing drop in revenue.
. Externalities like recession or global economic deterioration
will only delay the purchasing necessity of the customer. They may purchase lower priced
products and services from a competitor. These technologies however.
Q: devolpe Vodafone‘s objectives. Licensing
is also another concern that the telecom industry faces which may also lead to competition. The technologies are developed according to anticipated schedules that
will perform to the expectations of the vendor or their commercial importance. The group makes significant expenditure towards setting up new infrastructure for improved
communications. strategy and tactics for
the following 2years.